Sir Harold Kohleschmied
Harold Kohleschmied (6 September 1704) was the younger brother of Lord Jozef Kohleschmied, and Minister of Law in 1751. His contributions and service as the ''de facto ''regent of Zurich for his brother the Duke, from 1738-1746 gained him national prominence. Early Life Born on the 19th of September 1704, he followed his older brother as both a soldier in the Austrian Reicharmee, which Switzerland was apart of at the time, as well as into the Swiss Revolution of 1737, when he was imprisoned in Witzwil on the charge of Treason for 2 years. The years following the ascension of King William II saw Harold acting as a *de facto* regent to his brother, the Duke of Zurich, who served as Prime Minister of Switzerland for almost 8 years from 1739-1746, then again from 1748-1750. Eventually, after his brother's full retirement from politics in the December of 1750, Harold would move to the capital, where he would seek out government work. Working first as a member of the Swiss embassy to the Dutch Republic, he would eventually return and after taking over his brother's seat on the King's Privy Council, eventually attain the position of Minister of Law. Cabinet service Harold would quickly come to dominate the inexperienced Cabinet set up by Lord Azreel Wolfe, after the 29th of April Coup, which left many career Swiss bureaucrats out of office and replaced them with newer more liberal officials. Harold's longtime experience dealing with the inner-workings of local Zurich governance gave him an edge over many of these new officials, who were freshly graduating from many universities and promptly being thrown into a political role. While Lord Wolf Kroshbon came to be the bastion of Swiss Foreign relations at the time, Harold absorbed many of the functions traditionally allotted to internal affairs under his direct watch. He became a controversial figure as evidence of his secretive abuses of power began to surface. He was found to have exceeded the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Law, turning it into his own personal secret police, and to have used the Ministry to harass political dissenters and activists, to amass secret files on political leaders, including foreign officials and the King himself, and to collect evidence using illegal methods, such as illegal recordings. Harold consequently amassed a great deal of power and was in a position to intimidate and threaten others, eventually going so far as to demand the King's abdication, feeling he could more easily control Princess Rose Kroshbon, the heir at the time. After Lord Azreel's resignation in July of 1751, Harold's reign of terror began to diminish, as the King reassumed his Royal duties, and returned full time to Berne from Koniz. Harold tried in vein to attain support from foreign entities, being so brazen as to brag to the Prime Minister of Great Britain that he could force the King to abdicate if he wanted, and offering his support to Prince Ezequiel Clemente of Spain, disgraced former Crown Prince. Harold would participate in the 1751 Special Election, emerging in early polls as the favourite, however ultimately losing in a stunning defeat to Lord Bailey Kroshbon, then Minister of Defense, who enjoyed strong British support. An investigation was later opened into the allegations of voter fraud by Harold's campaign in the Election, but was inclonclusive, with insufficient evidence. Retirement After Bailey's victory, Harold remained on as Minister of Law, but was effectively sidelined by the King, no longer participating in Cabinet meetings, and eventually was coerced into tendering his resignation from all offices on the 6th of September 1751. He then returned to Zurich, where he would live in retirement. Harold continued to manage some minor affairs in the local governance till the end of 1751, when he was forced to leave all political offices. Category:Switzerland Category:People